Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate stuck in the pesticide web

By HT

Within a fortnight of getting a thumbs up from the BCCC for airing popular show Satyamev Jayate, Aamir Khan faces yet another controversy, this time from a pesticide company honcho who appeared on the show last year.

Rajju Shroff, CMD of United Phosphorus has sent a legal notice to Aamir and his entourage demanding a public apology for showing him in ‘bad light’, reports Mumbai Mirror.

Shroff’s grievance stems from being cornered in the last episode of the show concerning the woes of lactating mothers, infants and researchers who represented the general tone of the show. The verdict seemed to be - pesticides are harmful. "All those who claim pesticides are harmful are liars," Shroff is seen advocating his opinion on the episode.

According to the daily, the offended honcho sniffed foul-play and took to cross-researching the evidence provided by Dr Rashmi Sanghi, an IIT-Kanpur researcher who claimed to have tested breast-milk from women in Bhopal. The findings she presented suggested the incidence of endosulphan in the milk which is a toxic insecticide by a good 800 percent in excess of normal level. Shroff’s Sherlock-style spying revealed that IIT-Kanpur was not aware of the aforementioned tests conducted at the FEAT (Facility for Ecological and Analytical Testing) labs and this brought Sanghi’s claims under the lens.

Furthermore, Shroff accuses Sanghi of admitting to never have visited Bhopal or to have collected the samples on her own. The daily states that Shroff threatened Sanghi with an “ultimatum” that read “apologise, or else…”

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan has written to Shroff pointing out how the nature of the show demands ‘open debate’ and how he was ‘intimidating a fellow participant’ with his ‘reckless accusations’, writes Mumbai Mirror. Shroff's lawyers are demanding an apology from Aamir and the Satyamev Jayate team reports the daily.